Ok. I've been reading philosophy and the question yammers on and on, I don't know THE meaning of life but what is YOUR meaning of life?
.Jin
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Ok. I've been reading philosophy and the question yammers on and on, I don't know THE meaning of life but what is YOUR meaning of life?
.Jin
Although I'm relatively inexperienced in life experiences, I will form a meaning from what I have experienced thus far. To me, the meaning of life is to acquire knowledge and to use that knowledge to contribute to society. However, I am somewhat inclined to believe that life has no meaning. In other words, people give life meaning. But I am more content with the former.
Carpe diem!
" meaning of life' - - I couldn't find it yet.
When asked this question, someone once responded: "I am here to do good to others. What the h*ll the others are here for, I have no idea."
Sometimes I wonder if our raison d'etre for life, is to figure it out.
Or, to adapt John Lennon's quip on the subject - "Life is what happens while we are trying to understand why it happens '
The most uncertain thing I own!One second I have it with its full colour,the other second...its obscure or may cease to exist!
since i'm a Xian, i'm going to have to defer to the Bible's book of ecclesiastes, which answers that very question.
actually, even in the Xian circles, not many know of this, the answer to the meaning of life is revealed: the answer is to serve God by following what he says in the good book:
12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
http://www.online-literature.com/bible/Ecclesiastes/
My meaning is to be happy and let others be happy...
well i wonder if i qualify, with my 17 years of life experience (filled with confusions and silly mistakes), to answer :p .
btw, are we looking for an "aim" or a "meaning" in here? cuz i think they're slightly different from each other, my answer, like the others, might make them sound quite like the same thing though :) .
So...
Meaning of life to me: Life means the joy of being what u are, the recollections of the yesterdays, the anticipations for all the tomorrows. Life is in the dewdrop on the leaf, in the smile of a child, the delicacy of a food etc etc. Life is meant to live. So the meaning of life is living it. And with joyfullness.
Aim in life for me: To live it with Life. Like bon Jovi, i wanna "live while i'm alive" :p .
To respond as intelligently, humanely and/or creatively to that which is immediately before you.
To experience pain, when it comes your way, as deeply and truthfully as you can, the better to experience joy when that comes your way.
To be the transit for future life as others were the transit for yours.
To balance the time you spend wondering whether you are doing right, with doing what you know it is right to do.
To accept love gratefully when it is offered you and to love the other even when she or he cannot or will not love you back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrinceMyshkin
I don't know how I could improve on that.
For me, the older I get the less time I spend analyzing the true meaning of life and I just try to make the most of things. I have a family and there is a great deal of life meaning in that.
My meaning in life is not worrying about the meaning of life. :p
My meaning of life is: to find meaning.
To stay myself without drowning in the chaos of society.
To confirm my existence through kindness.
To fight the invisibility that washes over me and turns me into a pale shadow of myself.
My meaning of life is: to find meaning in life.
The Koran...
mmm...>> well, my own philosophy is always changing, but recently, its been this::::
life is essentially pointless, but that does not mean it doesnt have to have meaning; what meaning life has, depends on the person
Mod note: moved from General Literature.
Ooops. I'm never placing these right :blush: Thank you Logos!Quote:
Originally Posted by Logos
S'ok ;) , its great fodder for discussion as you've given a spin on that timeless philosophical question--what is your instead of what is the meaning of life.
This list is a very good match for my personal beliefs, especially #2 and #5. I would add:Quote:
Originally Posted by PrinceMyshkin
To create within oneself an awareness of the interconnectedness of all and an understanding of the impact of our actions -- on others, on the environment around us, and on the spiritual path that we have chosen to follow.
To live as much as possible in a spirit of truthfulness and thankfulness, and in a manner that hurts no one, including oneself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by motherhubbard
“Family” is the “self”
in selflessness,
those other essences
that are somehow
more oneself
than ego is
(Poor, self-absorbed
ego) and as one’s family
grows to become
a family of families
one may feel one’s self
touch the familiar
outer reaches
of humanity.
Outstanding. You weren't kidding when you said Intelligent, humane and creative. I'm very impressed. Thank you, Prince.Quote:
Originally Posted by PrinceMyshkin
Gosh, I really can't believe it's getting better all the time. How beautifully put.Quote:
Originally Posted by PrinceMyshkin
Thank you again, Sir.
Experiance all that comes and learn from it.
I was struck by the beauty of this. It allows both vulnerability (i.e. I don't really know if or how I exist) and compassion (but I will walk softly in the world despite the fear this lack of surety must sometimes generate) to coexist. Brilliantly done Bakiryu.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakiryu
There is always a weakness when responding to this type of question to answer not what is truly in the mind, but to offer that which sounds good, and feeds that ever hungry ego. We are always ready to risk a choking halo.
We see it in the answers given by the Miss Universes, and other beauty contest winners.
Maybe, it is sometimes how we would like ourselves to be, but the truth, if it were known, belies the fine sounding clichés.
This is one of the quirks of the mind, it constantly searches for the truth from others, but is very selective, and reserved, in providing it.
I will attempt to give my honest one, and I do try to make it work, though it is a struggle at times to keep it at the forefront.
Mine is this: To accept life not as a gift but a loan, a lone that can be called
in at any time. It is therefore in my interest to value the loan, and thank my
Creditor. A loan is meant to be used wisely, to bring benefit. From our nature and nurture we are fed with information from which we make choices.
We get a profit, or loss, in the way we 'invest' this loan (our time) from the choices we make. Errors in some bad choices are not negatives, if we learn from them.
For true happiness with self, I have found from self observation, and of others, that it is necessary to have a goal. If and when reached, to set another one. Always have something to make you look forward, and to drive you.
Appreciation, not taking things for granted, be that life itself, friends, relatives, and those amenities we have today just as simple as going to the
the tap and finding we have running water. I try to remind myself that not long ago it would have been an undreamed of luxury, and there are places today where it still is.
I will actually think of this when I go to the tap, or use the shower. or pick up the phone and speak to someone thousands of miles away, or watch pictures being beamed to me for my enjoyment and relaxation. No one need be 'lonely' today. It is so easy to take these things for granted.
Yes, Appreciation, of everything, and that means giving thanks - something I close my eyes with at night, and with which I wake up in the morning by going to the window and gazing out at my panoramic view of London, for which I am particularly thankful, and saying (sometimes shouting) 'Good morning World!
Have a great day! Enjoy, invest your loan wisely, you never know when it will be called in.
The tradgedy of life is-it's after something which it can never reach.we all seek for stability,but in the end all we ever get is endless,constant instability.
you'll find the evidence of it everywhere.for example,look at the basic element of life,electrons(dont want want to deal with quarks or more fundamental elements,dont wish to freak you out!)-electrons keeps changing their position all the time.seems like all they want is forming octate-TO MAKE THE COMPOUND STABLE.but it's seems to be their fate never to be stable,but they are destined to keep chasing it.tragic,huh?
didn't like this type of `fundamental' interpretation? okay,lets take up a broader view! now,look at the universe.wht is it doing?scientists say it is EXPANDING.okay,fine.it can't go on expanding for eternity.there will be a time when it will yawn and say,okay,hasn't it been already long enough expanding?it will take rest for a while and say-why not give CONTRACTION a chance?it has already fulfilled its destiny,reached peace(or in other words- stability)for a while and again it will start running...run,run,this is how you are fated...this time backwards.at last,it reaches again its initial state-it becomes a point again.a calm,still point.waiting to explode...again...to reach its ever-desired state...a long way to go...
so no wonder life is a race.when the whole universe is trapped in this rule,how can we deny it?
Keep running friends,to keep pace with the rest of everything.see if u can ever get the meaning of this law.if you do,then you'll know what is THE MEANING OF LIFE & EVERYTHING.
This is a very insightful point. Often we hide behind the veil of what we 'think' we ought to say, instead of saying what we mean.Quote:
Originally Posted by Midas
For me it is simple, what gives my life meaning is:
- to be happy
- to feel like I'm achieving something
- to be loved
and that's it. I don't think anyone can expect anything more than that.
the meaning of life is life and love, i mean everything in life has a meaning. so the meaning of life is all of those things. meaning or purpose. to eat and to drink have a purpose, to sleep and to walk have purposes, all of that, and they all together make up the meaning or purpose of life...but mainly love and happiness. the book the farther reaches of human nature by a. maslow has some interesting ideas about values and fact-values.
I have been reading this thread and thinking how I might respond, and until now coming up blank.
What occurred to me is that I judge my life by what I have done, what things I choose to do in a day, in a year.
So this is, for me, a list of the things I do repeatedly in my life.
1. put myself in situations where I am a visible minority
2. put myself in situations where I am an ethnic minority
3. choose things because they are the hardest things I can think of to do
4. try to understand things that are all but non comprehensible (like string theory without advanced mathematics)
6. try to understand from where we come
7. try to understand the place in which we live
8. try to understand what will come of our past behaviors
I do this by reading, thinking and wandering around the world watching.
sorry to insert in here, but can someone please tell me how to post a new thread on this website? i'm new to the forum.
So how I do it is I go to the main page of the forum to which I am going to post (in this case it would be "Philosophical Literature" then scroll down and on the bottom left there is a button that says "New Thread." Push. We have vigilant moderators here so try to make sure your thread is appropriate to the forum and doesn't contravene the rules (i.e. no politics, etc.).Quote:
Originally Posted by poofyhead15
You might want to go here and read the rules.
thankyou very much:)
The point is that I can't exactly say what the meaning of life is to me. I could say that it is to be loved, to do good, to love and contribute to society, but i think that in order for me to say that something represents the meaning of life to me I really have to FEEL that it IS my meaning of life, but i don't. And also i would like to ask all of you, are the things that you listed the thing that consume you entirely? For if they don't they shouldn't have the "status" of things that give your life meaning. They would be more like thing that you aspire to, for the sake of living a, what is called normal and relatively fullfiled life. Something that gives meaning to life should be, in my opinion, absolutely sublime and if we were to really belive in it, we should dedicate our life to it.
Anyway it is my opinion that you can never completley find the meaning of life. For life itself is the serach for its own meaning. I liked the analogy with electrons, that shows exactly what I wanted to say here. We strive for meaning. But the meaning itself always changes - panta rei
What is my meaning of life???? Never with the easy questions:D No one ever asks "Why do we live?" at which point I can give a nice and very scientific answer. So my meaning of life... I guess it would be to live (I don't mean that in any sarcastic sense). What I mean is give all you can to others, experience all you can absorb, learn more than you think was possible, and love freely and completely.
Life??? We are Life!! It's the thing that we always do. It must not be question coz it it would be question it would mean that we are questioning ourselves;)
"We love life not because we are used to living, but because we are used to loving."
To be an experimentalist. Aka: Experiment with life no matter what you lose (as long as its not your life, your dignity or your gf/bf).
I used to be a nihilist. But, it seems that such a "deathful" perception on life is rather ridiculous.
Yes, but we question ourselves every minute, analyze our voices and thoughts, study our innermost motives. If we didn't question ourselves there would be no indecision. :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by zealouza
I think we should trust the conclusions we come to after giving something thorough, honest, searching and deep thought. We should trust our ability to tell right from wrong, but not assume everything we do is right. We should trust our conscience, but also apply our conscience to our actions, and not assume our actions are conscionable just because we have a conscience. :) So, some people should definitely question themselves more, while some should have more faith in themselves, because they act with conscience.
I think life is a game that you have to play it and keep on gonig no matter what!